Plans are Overrated… Sometimes.

photo: Our first year hosting the Arnold Affiliate Gathering

I have a natural tendency to be insanely comfortable flying by the seat of my pants. This is a trait that has done amazing things for me and saved my ass on numerous occasions. It’s also a trait that has caused much anxiety for my wife and a few people I collaborate with. However, they are generally pleasantly surprised when things work out well hah!

I feel like a lot of people get hung up trying to do things perfectly. Whether it’s something as big as starting a new business, or something as small as competing in your first competition. The reality is, often times, it’s better to just take the leap and get shit done then try plan every detail. Win or lose, you will improve upon the experience.. if you let yourself.

Over the years of teaching, training, managing a gym, starting and running a business, putting on events, etc… One thing I have noticed is that the small details don’t matter nearly as much as some would think. Not initially at least. If you get hung up on the small details you often get paralysis by analysis. And that will inevitably lead to you not actually completing the task. Or doing it, but picking apart your own work if it didn’t go “as planned.”

I have met so many people that are considered “great” that operate the same way I do. On the outside they look like they have their shit together, but in reality, they are winging it. And they look comfortable as hell doing it. I guess, they do in fact have their shit together, they just don’t need to follow a road map to get it done. They are passionate, and that is what makes their moves great.

When we first opened our gym, I was approached to take on the chairman position for “Functional Fitness” at The Arnold. If you don’t know, that’s a massive event. It costs a hell of a lot of money, takes a hell of a lot of people to pull it off, and requires a massive amount of man hours to “plan.” Fun part, we were approached only 3 months before the event. An event most people plan the entire year for hah. We didn’t think about it much. That’s an epic opportunity, we’ll figure it out… so I went in for the interview. Promised them it would be epic… and it was. I knew it would be, because I had an amazing team and was part of an amazing community.

When our AS video premiered on The Blaze and shot to 28 million views, our phones rang constantly and our inbox was slammed with inquiries about bringing training to them. We honestly had no idea how we were going to do get to everyone logistically, let alone at an affordable price with travel. BUT the information and training needed to get out there, and we weren’t looking to capitalize on fear and steal money, so we figured it out. No crazy planning, no sponsors, no big funding… just “find a facility to host us and we will be there.”

Look, I don’t want you to think I just throw planning to wind. That’s not the case. We do debriefs after events, take notes to make sure we improve on it, send out surveys and try to make sure we are continually getting better. But what we don’t do, is shy away from just getting shit done initially.

When you’re passionate… legitimately passionate, and you care about what you’re doing, you’ll get it done. And you’ll do it well. Because people can see that you mean what you say and what you do. Because they feel good about the energy you give off. Because you’re a doer.

Sometimes, you just gotta do it. Things will never go the way you plan. Sometimes, you just need to take the step and take action, then adjust on the way.